The first half of this volume is to show the interest and the continuance of colonial history from the end of the seventeenth century to the outbreak of the Revolution. The lessons of this "forgotten half-century" are not to be found in the petty events of each colony, but in the growth of principles of government and of a social and economic system. Hitherto it has been hard to study this important formative period, because the illustrative material was so scattered - perhaps this volume will help to bring out the significance of the growth of an American spirit which made union and independence possible.
The history of the American Revolution, which is the subject of the second part of the volume, has usually been written as annals of military campaigns. This volume brings out, from the writings of the time, the real spirit of the Revolution: the ill-judged restrictive system of the home government; the passionate arguments for and against taxation; the fervor of the irregular opposition in the colonies. Patriots, Englishmen, and loyalists speak for themselves, and thus make clear that increasing and unappeasable discontent which preceded and explains the Revolution.
Our forefathers did interesting things and left entertaining records. The story of our nation’s development is clearer for the suggestions made by these writers. They are prejudiced; they see but a part of what is going on; they leave many gaps; but, after all, they tell the story.
The collection was selected and edited in 1900 by Albert Bushnell Hart, Professor of History at Harvard University, and a well-respected and published scholar.
